Looking for the best iPad apps to help you sort, organize, edit, and just plain better manage your PDF collections? Whether you store tremendous amounts of PDFs that need to all be searchable or you just need to be able to paperlessly sign and send off a PDF contract, there are lots of App Store apps that make managing PDFs on iPad easier than ever. However, depending on how you interact with PDFs on a regular basis, some apps may be better suited for your use case than others. Considering some PDF apps can be quite costly or take up quite a bit of time to set up, we've done the dirty work for you in order to find which are the absolute best PDF management apps for iPad.
PDF Expert 5
PDF Expert 5 by Readdle lets you organize, annotate, highlight, and manage all your PDF documents in one place. Load them from Dropbox, Google Drive, or another cloud storage account and you're good to go. You can also load documents via iTunes or iCloud if you choose. Not only is PDF Expert 5 feature rich, its Review Mode is a remarkably beautiful and easy way to annotate PDFs. Simply enter Review Mode and treat the PDF like you would if you were in a word processor. PDF Expert will save your corrections and notes as smart annotations without actually changing the document itself.
If you spend more time annotating PDFs than anything else, Review Mode will enhance your workflow in amazing ways.
- $9.99 - Download Now
GoodReader 4
GoodReader 4 lets you open PDFs from many sources including Dropbox, Google Drive, Box, WebDAV, SMB, AFP, FTP, SFTP, and many more. You can also pull from URLs and other web sources via the built-in browser. One thing GoodReader seems to do slightly better than other PDF apps is single page management. You can easily add, rearrange, delete, rotate, extract and email individual pages with very little effort. You can also make use of stamps, lines, arrows, sticky notes, and more when marking up PDFs in GoodReader.
GoodReader 4 is a great choice if you need to access files from several different sources regularly or you want tons of editing and markup tools to choose from.
- $6.99 - Download Now
iAnnotate
iAnnotate is not only beautifully designed and easy to use, it's also feature packed. Not only can you edit, annotate, mark up, and fill existing PDFs in iAnnotate, you can also create brand new ones. For those who need to make annotations that can't be edited or changed by others, iAnnotate lets you flatten them before sending so you can be sure nothing is modified without your consent. You can link up several different types of accounts including Dropbox, Google Drive, SkyDrive, and more. You also have the option to connect to custom WebDAV servers if you need to, or just sync files locally. Currently iAnnotate is not available for iPhone, which is something to keep in mind if you need access to your annotations on the go.
If you need to protect your annotations before sending or want to create new PDFs, iAnnotate will more than exceed your expectations.
- $9.99 - Download Now
PDFpen
PDFpen for iPad can sync seamlessly with its Mac counterpart via iCloud or Dropbox. Simply link up your cloud storage accounts and start editing. For anyone familiar with PDFpen on the Mac, you should be right at home. With PDFpen you can read, edit text, highlight, annotate, and much more. You can also complete fillable PDF forms without ever needing a computer. But if you do, you can simply save your changes in PDFpen for iPad and they'll be waiting for you when you get back to your Mac.
If syncing between Mac and iPad is a must for you, PDFpen is where it's at.
- $14.99 - Download Now
See also:
- PDFpen 6 for Mac - $59.99 - Download Now
Your vote for best iPad apps for managing PDFs?
If you deal with PDF documents on a regular basis, what apps do you use on your iPad and why? Are there any features you think most PDF apps are currently missing that you'd like to see? Be sure to let me know in the comments!
Reader comments
Best iPad apps to store and manage PDFs: Organize, edit, annotate, send, and search better!
As a software solutions consultant, I'm constantly interacting with various attachments, pdf and otherwise, I decided to buy an iPad after seeing Notability in action. I've convinced a few others to buy iPads after showing them Notability as well.
Some highlights:
1) Audio Recording, synced with annotations on a PDF! Ever been in an important meeting and you can figure out why you wrote that cryptic note? Simply select the note (text or pen annotation) and the recorded audio jumps to that spot. Nothing like it.
2) Excellent annotation tools, but this takes it one step further. Select annotations and dynamically shrink, enlarge, rotate, modify, as needed. It is beyond paper in every stretch (literally, well pixelly) of the imagination.
3) Good file handling: integrates with all the standard storage tools.
4) Overlay/import photos, etc.: As the meeting proceeds, take a snap shot of the whiteboard, or your screen for a Webex, and insert it in the middle of your notes.
5) Same with Web Clips, Sticky Notes, and other structured objects.
6) Excellent integration/syncing of notes across all my Apple devices.
Two weaknesses:
1) No Mac app yet, syncing is only with a flattened PDF on the Mac.
2) Can't say I've tried completing a PDF form. Not sure how that would work. I've only completed PDF forms with the overlay features. Who knows, maybe it's already built in.
Warnings: I just upgraded? to the newest iPad Mini with Retina. Because Notability was the only reason I had the old iPad, I really did a disservice to myself by buying the smaller iPad. Size matters when working with documents, and I'll be buying the larger screen again next time.
AWESOME feedback! Thank you!
+1 for Notability.
I also like GoodReader because of its text reflow tool. I use that a lot to convert PDFs I downloaded from the web to TXT which is my preferred file format. And to open and view MS Office and files other apps can't seem to handle.
I also like Notability. As an actor I use it for scripts. Just load the pdf to Google Drive and import, then I can highlight my lines in one color, queues in another and mark it up with my blocking notes. I can keep multiple documents for each show grouped together, like schedules and sheet music. This was my main justification for getting my iPad4 and it's been great.
One thing I'm hoping to get in the future is an active stylus and I haven't seen any that indicate they are compatible with Notability. That S-pen is probably the one thing I really envy on the Galaxy Tab line.
Since iBooks does not sync with other idevices via iCloud, is the a PDF app out there that does? It is frustrating to download a file on my Mac and then have to re-download on my iPad or iPhone........HELP!!
Revision - it looks like PDF Pen will do so, correct?
Yes, PDFpen will sync. PDF Expert will sync between iPhone and iPad but does not have a Mac client.
PDF Expert syncs via multiple cloud services that you choose. Dropbox, Google Drive, OneDrive, Box, SugarSync, Office365... or you can roll your own with WebDAV, (S)FTP or Windows SMB.
GoodReader will also sync with all kinds of storage services, like Dropbox etc.
I'm always looking for a good PDF reader, but I haven't found one yet despite it being one of the largest categories in the App store.
I think the real solution is for Apple to make one, preferably by making the otherwise useless "News Stand" app for magazines, open PDFs as well. Magazines are generally in the same category of document (casual, scribbled upon, and ultimately deleted instead of saved), as PDF's and thus the app would be a good fit IMO.
None of these apps do it for me however. The main thing they all seem to have in common, is an intensely ugly UI and an almost active disregard for beauty and order. Most of them even have ugly "screenshots" in the app store which instead of being actual screenshots, function as really bad help files. Several don't even have a good view in the App store of what the app looks like, or clear descriptions of how they function.
In short, they all look like they have been put together by people with no taste whatsoever. Amateur designers more concerned with adding a bazillion trendy features than making a fine, functional, and attractive product.
Download this app called pdf cabinet 2. It's the best UI you will find in a PDF reader. There aren't many features, but it has robust cloud syncing, and excellent file opening options.
But note that it's only a PDF READER, not an editor or a creator. There AIS a very bare bones ability to annotate the PDF though.
Edit: Link- https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/pdf-cabinet-2.0/id764366087?mt=8&at=10l3...
I think I own all of these. PDF Expert is probably the one I use most. I tried PDFPen on the recommendation of the Paperless ebook, but I'm not exactly thrilled with it. PDF Expert seems to be one of the more complete PDF viewers out there. Based on Christopher's comment above, I do think that I'm going to give Notability a try for PDF. I bought it a while back for just note taking, not really realizing that it had annotation capabilities.
I originally got PDF Expert as a Free App (don't recall if it was "of the day" or "of the week") as a replacement to Foxit, which I had been slowly becoming less enamored of as time went by. When Readdle updated to v5 as a new application, I bought it.
PDF Expert is not only a good PDF viewer that keeps getting better with each update, it also enables me to edit/modify PDFs better in my iPad than I can on my desktop with PDF X-Change Editor (lite).
Very nice selection and well done. Like @applejosh above, I have all of them, plus Notability, and one not mentioned yet called PDF Pro. Can't call a winner, they all have their strength and this is really one category of apps where having trial versions in the AppStore would help a lot.
iAnnotate is a fine app and does everything well, but they change UI and UX more often than other people change their clothing, and their designs are always a bit on the non-standard side.
PDF Pro ist just the opposite, it is maybe the most Apple-like PDF app, it pretty much works and looks like Preview on the Mac, Annotation toolbar, context menus and all. It may not have every feature, but you never have to think about how to use it and in my experience it is rock solid and quick.
As a fan of the makers of PDFpen and their apps I don't say this lightly, but IMHO it does not really excel at anything in a way that justifies its price compared to PDF Expert or PDF Pro. There is nothing at all wrong with GoodReader, PDF functionality is great, maybe the best in the group, I just personally don't really get along with this app; it does too much for an iPad app. It would be unfair to call it unintuitive, it's really not, but for me it is too busy.
I guess if I had to stick with one app, it would be a tight call between Expert and Pro, and likely PDF Expert would be the winner, because of its frequent updates and fine integration with Documents.
PDF Max Pro was able to do everything I wanted and was easy to use. Hope one day someone will put it in a best of PDF app review as this app really helped me.
PDF Expert All the way ....
Another recommendation for PDF Expert. I got the current version on sale and it noticed my documents is version 4 and asked if I wanted to transfer them over.
I sort of collect apps like some folks pick up shells or pretty rocks at the beach. Various sources point them out when they are free (or really cheap) and I snag them. So I have most of these (including the ones mentioned in the comments) ...
I bought GoodReader for the iPhone a very long time ago (right after the App Store was launched) and it really is my go-to app for PDFs. I store a lot of computer technical books as reference on my 128g iPad. GR3 (I haven't switched over to GR4 yet) does so much more than read and interact with PDFs. The list of protocols it supports for connecting to networked file stores means there isn't much you can't connect to...and being able to turn GR into a wifi-based server allows me to be able to snag PDFs from anywhere without being chained to my computer and Apple's (horrific) sync function.
My vote is GoodReader -- it really can be the hub of a completely disconnected iOS system. It does PDFs, every cloud service under the sun, every network file store protocol I can think of, AND IT DOWNLOADS FILES OFF THE WEB! What's not to love?
For musicians using PDF sheet music, forScore seems the best to me.
OKITOO iPad to annotate, markup, sketch, measure LIVE on PDF and Photos offline or with remote team to get everyone on the same page. The MAC, PC and iPad app has been designed not only for Architecture, Engineering and Construction Business but also for those who think a picture worths a thousand words.
Download on iTunes : https://itunes.apple.com/app/okitoo-live-mark-up-annotation/id724594046?...
On the web : https://service.okitoo.fr
Has anyone used PDFpen recently? Early reviews of the app criticized it for crashing frequently. Has the developer resolved this problem?
If one of the reasons why you want to annotate a PDF is to give feedback to someone (or receive) then Blrt might be what you are looking for. With the Blrt IPad app (www.blrt.com) you can go beyond just annotating PDFs or images, you can talk, point, draw and annotate over PDF's, webpage screenshots, images, or photos, and then share your annotated file.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.blrt.android&hl=en
Highly recommended!